In some instances, a builder or contractor installing siding, brick, or other wall-mounted materials may sometimes be careless in identifying specific locations of utility lines within a wall. In these instances, the builder or contractor may drive nails, bolts, or other penetrating objects into the wall and inadvertently puncture or otherwise damage utility lines within the wall. Sometimes the damage may go unnoticed as construction continues. Costly repairs and re-work may be needed including, but not limited to, drywall, paint, trim, flooring, mold remediation, and welding.
Conventional nail plates exist for protecting utilities in a wall. However, such conventional plates may be relatively small and may not suitably protect the utilities in the wall. In these instances, it may be necessary to install numerous nail plates to protect the utilities within a wall. The use of multiple, rather small plates can be time consuming to install since a contractor must mount each relatively small plate in the wall and over the utilities. If the contractor or builder uses multiple plates, each of the plates must be closely aligned or there may be exposed portions of utilities, which will remain unprotected from possible strikes from nails, bolts, or penetrating objects.
One type of conventional nail plate, a box nail plate, includes a series of spikes adjacent to the edges of the box nail plate. The box nail plate, via the spikes, can be driven into the surface of a wood stud over the location where an internal utility wire passes through the wood stud. In some instances, the spikes may be prone to bending or deflection if the box nail plate is not properly installed. In many instances, the box nail plate only protects the electrical wire in a relatively small area, and does not protect the remaining portion of the electrical wire, which can be a much greater length than that covered by the box nail plate. Even though multiple box nail plates can be used to cover other portions of the electrical wire, the associated spikes of the box nail plate are primarily suitable for mounting against a wood stud or other surface along which the electrical wire is located. Thus, the use of the box nail plate and similar types of nail plates to protect electrical wires or other types of utilities in other locations within a wall is limited.
Other examples of conventional nail plates exist with different shapes and configurations. However, such conventional nail plates can require multiple plates to fully protect utilities within a wall.
Therefore, a need exists for systems and methods for providing a utility line protection plate.